Thermo Compactor

ABSTRACT

A Styrofoam densification machine for melting used Expanded Polystyrene (Styrofoam) products. It includes a hopper for holding the disposed Styrofoam and a hopper discharge area for melting the used Styrofoam. The Hopper discharge area contains a heated tray compartment which holds a receiving tray for collection of melted Styrofoam. The compartment shall have two or less access area doors for the retrieval of the collection tray. The discharge and compartment tray areas have silicone heating pads on the outside of the panels for heat. The hopper is surrounded by a paneled cabinet which includes up to two inches of installation. The machine is loaded by way of mechanical hopper lid(s) which includes up to two lid panels, high temperature seals, hinges and handles for ease of opening. The machine sits on up to four (4) casters along with anchoring plates. The machine operates on 120 volts, 208 volts and 240 volts.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/125,627 filed Apr. 28, 2008, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the densification (melting) of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) also known as Styrofoam. The present invention relates particularly to the densification of used Styrofoam products through conductive heat and melting it into a block form to be used later in its recycling.

Styrofoam products are widely used in the food service industry such as cafeteria's and lunch rooms for storing and serving food and drink. Despite the suitability of Styrofoam for these purposes, the cost of its disposal along with the environmental impact it has on our natural resources, many are faced with finding alternative methods for its disposal.

Presently, in the cafeteria/lunchroom settings where they serve on Styrofoam trays, it is customary to dispose of the tray by either dumping the tray along with the remaining food left on the tray into a garbage bag and dispose of all its contents. Others remove any food that is left on the tray into one garbage bag and stack and fill another bag with the trays, and in the process reduce their bag usage and freeing-up more dumpster space allowing for less pick-ups of the dumpster.

In recent years numerous companies in the plastic recycling industry have developed machines for the purpose of densifying Styrofoam products through hydraulic and pneumatic compression, heat transfer and chemical processes. These machines are usually used at large industrial settings along with strict processing requirements such as shredding, cleaning and filtering of the Styrofoam prior to densifying.

The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The Thermo Compactor is a specially designed machine for melting Polystyrene EPS (Styrofoam) in a clean or food contaminated state. The melting point of EPS is such that any contaminated EPS when melted with food particles such as found in lunch room settings are odor free and encapsulated into the melted plastic. The hopper frame and cabinet are made out of aluminum with insulation for heat retention. The heat for melting the Styrofoam material is derived from silicone heat blankets that are positioned in specific areas on the four trapezoidal sides of the lower hopper for correct heat transfer. The discharge area at the bottom of the hopper is encompassed by a Heated Tray Compartment which has heat blankets attached to each of its sides including the bottom plate. The heat produced from the Heat Draft Compartment allows for complete discharge of the melted plastic. Without the Heated Tray Compartment the melted plastic would cool too quickly and not drip into the holding tray. The holding tray is designed and positioned inside of the Heat Draft Compartment to catch all the melted plastic. The design of the holding tray is of a trapezoidal shape which allows for easy empting.

Operation:

The operation of the machine is simple and restricted to loading the Styrofoam waste material into the top of either of the hopper lids and closing the hopper lid, switching the Thermo Compactor on/off and then removing the melted Styrofoam once it has cooled in the tray.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view, partially in section, of the outside cabinet assembly incorporating the subject invention consisting of:

-   1. Hopper Lid(s) assembly -   2. Hopper Lid(s) rotating shaft -   3. Hopper Lid(s) handle bracket -   4. Hopper Lid(s) handles -   5. Hopper cabinet panels -   6. Hopper tray compartment door(s) -   7. Hopper cabinet casters

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view, partially in section, of the inside upper and lower hopper assemblies incorporating the subject invention consisting of:

-   8. Insulation surrounding upper hopper and lower hopper assemblies -   9. Upper hopper assembly -   10. Lower hopper discharge area -   11. Silicone heating pads -   12. Lower hopper tray compartment -   13. Tray compartment collection tray -   14. Lower hopper 

1. A machine for densifying Expanded Polystyrene also known as Styrofoam through heat transfer comprising: a hopper for loading used Styrofoam material that includes a heated discharge area for heating and melting Styrofoam along with a heated tray compartment; silicone heating pads for heat transfer of temperatures rates of up to 450 degrees; a tray for collecting melted Styrofoam; mechanical hopper lid(s) for loading used Styrofoam with handles and a locking device; an insulated paneled cabinet to limit heat transfer and for ease of operation; and up to four (4) caster wheels for ease of transport along with anchoring plates for ridged installation.
 2. A machine for densifying Styrofoam, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said hopper is a two (2) piece hopper with an upper hopper loading area and lower heated hopper with heated tray compartment also known as the discharge and collection area.
 3. A machine for densifying/melting Styrofoam, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said lower heated hopper and heated tray compartment is heated by silicone heating pads that are positioned on the outside of the lower hopper and tray compartment shell panels to heat panels, to temperatures of up to 450 degrees.
 4. A machine for densifying Styrofoam, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said lower heated hopper and heated tray compartment are heated to temperatures of up to 400 degrees through heat transfer that allows for densification/melting of Styrofoam material.
 5. A machine for densifying Styrofoam, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said lower heated hopper and heated tray compartment discharges and collects said densified/melted Styrofoam.
 6. A machine for densifying/melting Styrofoam, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said lower heated tray compartment contains a collection tray that allows for collecting densified/melted Styrofoam material, wherein the tray as described is a four (4) sided tray whereas two (2) short sides are trapezoid shaped and two (2) long sides are flat panels, an wherein all sides are attached and form a tray that is a trapezoid cavity that when filled with densified/melted Styrofoam material it produces a Styrofoam block.
 7. A machine for densifying/melting Styrofoam, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said mechanical hopper lid(s) are a two piece lid-system that allows for loading the machine from either the right side or left, wherein the lid system is hinged at the center.
 8. A machine for densifying/melting Styrofoam, as set forth in claim 7, wherein the mechanical hopper lid system is a two (2) part system whereas each lid is opened and operated independently of each other, and each lid is hinged and attached to its own shaft and handle and when rotated in the upward direction, opens lid(s) for loading of Styrofoam material.
 9. A machine for densifying/melting Styrofoam, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said hoppers are enclosed by up to two (2) inches of insulation material along with panels to form the machine cabinet.
 10. A machine for densifying/melting Styrofoam, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the said machine operates off of a wattage of 1800 or less, an amperage of 15 or less a voltage of 115/120, single phase, 60 hertz. 